Creativity and innovation are important factors for sustainable agricultural growth. Intellectual property right (IPR) is the key driver of innovation. However, many argue against this view, as it would benefit only a certain section in a country. The present study analyses the perception of stakeholders on Indian IPR system for plant varieties. A perception survey was conducted among various stakeholders of the seed industry across the country during 2011–12.

We present the measurements of cloud-base height variations over ARIES, Nainital (79.45°E, 29.37°N, 1958 m amsl) obtained from Vaisala Ceilometer, during the nearly year-long Ganges Valley Aerosol Experiment (GVAX).

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In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the chemical transport model ‘CHIMERE’ over large Indian region (4–37.5°N; 67–88.5°E) for multiple years (2006, 2007 and 2008) by comparing the model simulations with concurrent aerosol measurements from different locations. Model simulated nearsurface black carbon mass concentrations agreed satisfactorily with measurements at various locations (oceanic, inland and island sites), in general, except during monsoon months, when the model underpredicted the measurements.

In order to understand the regional climate implications of aerosols over Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP), a major Indo-US field experiment, Ganges Valley Aerosol Experiment (GVAX) was conducted during 2011– 12. Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) mobile facility (AMF) was deployed at the northern Indo-Gangetic Plain over the high-altitude site, Manora Peak, Nainital (29°21′33.84″N, 79°27′29.27″E, 1980 m amsl) in Central Himalayas, for an year-round measurement of aerosols, clouds and other climate-relevant atmospheric parameters.

Agroforestry is a traditional and ancient land use practice, having deliberate integration of trees with crop and livestock components. In India, agroforestry practices are prevalent in different agro-ecological zones and occupy sizeable areas. These practices have great potential for climate change mitigation through sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Carbon sequestration potential was studied in four districts of Gujarat (Anand, Dahod, Patan and Junagarh), for which field survey was conducted to collect primary data on existing agroforestry systems.

By 2050, India is likely to experience a temperature rise of 1-4°C; rainfall will increase by 9-16 per cent. This will have a detrimental effect on farmers in more than half of the country.

Inception of agriculture has witnessed the pivotal role of women in perceiving how seeds sprouted and grew into plants. Since the birth of farming, women have been the backbone of the agricultural work force. Today, they represent 43% of the global agricultural labour force. There has been 24% increase in the number of female agricultural labourers1 , from 49.5 million in 2001 to 61.6 million in 2011. (Correspondence)

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In this study, we evaluate the potential impact of ground level ozone (O3) on rice and wheat yield in top 10 states in India during 2005. This study is based on simulated hourly O3 concentration from the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), district-wise seasonal crop production datasets and accumulated daytime hourly O3 concentration over a threshold of 40 ppbv (AOT40) indices to estimate crop yield damage resulting from ambient O3 exposure.

Since 1976, in the northeastern hill region of Mizoram intensive collections of maize landraces were made by ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi and diversity of landraces maize from this region comprised 36% of the total collection from whole India, which was the highest number of accession among other regions . The maize landraces in this region were reported to show extensive variability for plant, tassel, ear and kernel characteristics, and are interesting from the viewpoints of breeding, diffusion and evolution of maize. (Correspondence)

It is generally believed that an efficacious vaccine will be a major asset and the most cost-effective intervention in combating malaria. The fact that individuals living in malaria endemic areas develop immunity against the disease and that injection of irradiated sporozoites can protect humans from infection, suggest that it may be possible to develop vaccines against malaria. (Editorial)

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